


Of Roommates and Hospital Visits

by TinCanTelephone



Series: From Tumblr, With <3 [23]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Pre-Relationship, Unresolved Romantic Tension, just to shake things up a bit, specifically 2009, swine flu outbreak au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 03:18:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16905111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinCanTelephone/pseuds/TinCanTelephone
Summary: In which Cassian catches the swine flu during finals week, and tries to convince his roommate it's notthat badLucky for him, Jyn knows better





	Of Roommates and Hospital Visits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AstridMyrna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstridMyrna/gifts).



> For @thegiddyowl on tumblr: “I got you. It’s gonna be okay, you’re going to be okay.”
> 
> Okay I know I _suck_ at cross-posting these in a timely manner :/ real life, man
> 
>  
> 
> Also a warning this is maybe a touch corny and mostly fluff lol but what can I say? Sometimes I need this…
> 
> _content warning: non-explicit vomiting_

When he first moved in, Cassian thought the apartment was pretty small, especially for a two-bedroom. Although maybe it was technically a one-bedroom, and Jyn just converted the little den-like room into a second bedroom with a curtain. That information was probably on the lease when he signed it, but of course he couldn’t remember it now. 

In any case, the way it was laid out he had to cross the tiny dining-room/living room to get to the bathroom, and the distance tonight was fucking interminable. 

He was breathing heavily before he was halfway there and decided to rest for a bit, sitting down at the kitchen table with his head in his arms. 

_I should remember this_ , he thought.  _The day I can’t cross the fucking apartment. Monday,_  (or was it Tuesday?)  _December something-or-other, 2009_. 

Fuck this. Fuck the flu. Specifically, fuck the swine flu that made his entire body feel like it was shutting down. He coughed into his arms, and remembered that he still had to use the bathroom, which was still so very, very far away. 

A door opened and light streamed through the hallway, digging into his skull and making his head pound. 

Jyn padded into the kitchen, empty coffee mug in one hand and a pen tucked behind her ear. She had her last final tomorrow, and had been avoiding him like the plague so she wouldn’t get… the plague. (He had a final tomorrow as well, technically, but had admitted defeat earlier that evening and sent an apologetic email to his professor he hoped what somewhat coherent.) 

She stopped when she saw him. “What are you doing out of bed?” 

He picked his head up to answer her, although it made him so dizzy he seriously worried he would faint. “Bathroom,” he croaked. “I was taking a break.”

Jyn raised her eyebrows and glanced behind her, no doubt at the bathroom door a mere three feet down the hallway. “Think you’re gonna make it?” 

If he squinted, he thought maybe she looked a little worried, but it was hard to focus on anything through the fever and she could just be thinking about how she’d have to sterilize this table when he got up. (He was pretty sure she’d lifted research-grade ethanol from one of the teaching labs for that specific purpose.)

“I–” He coughed into his arm, lungs and throat burning. “I think I’m dying.” Not what he meant to say, but it was all he could think about now, how fucking _miserable_ this was.

She actually took a step forward at that. “Do you think… do you need me to do anything?” 

Oh, God. If she helped him and he got her sick he’d never forgive himself. “I’ll be fine.” 

To prove it to her, he pressed his hands to the table and stood up, then slowly shuffled to the bathroom. He had to keep one hand on the wall, but managed to not pass out so he counted it as a win. 

Jyn was still standing in the kitchen when he reemerged, and as a show of strength he made himself walk all the way back to his room without stopping. And it was just as well, because lying down again felt like absolute heaven and he quickly decided he never wanted to move again. 

But for good measure, he texted Jyn, _srsly, im fine. good lck on urtest_

It was littered with typos, but he couldn’t look at the screen long enough to make any corrections so he gave up and pressed his face into the pillow, wondering if it would relieve some of the pressure behind his eyes. 

But it only made him cough again, so he curled up on his side and prayed for sleep to come quickly. 

 

* * *

 

By some miracle, he slept through the night, only waking up to the slam of the apartment door as Jyn left to take her final. Cassian winced at the light coming in through the window and rolled over. He mournfully considered for a second that in a perfect world, he’d be on his way to campus with her, and not stuck in bed with a fever well over 100. 

Speaking of which… he should probably be drinking water for that. 

He pushed himself to sit with shaking arms, then reached over and realized his water bottle was empty. 

Shit. This meant he had to get up. 

Maybe not such a bad idea overall– he felt pretty weak and couldn’t remember the last time he had anything to eat, but also it hurt to move and walking just felt… beyond him. 

He was about to curl up in defeat when he fell into a prolonged coughing fit that left his throat burning and a bad taste in the back of his mouth. 

Fuck, he really needed the water. 

Slowly, painfully, with what felt like a herculean effort, Cassian made his way to the kitchen. At first, it was worth it. The water felt amazing on his tongue and he even felt up to eating a few soda crackers, but then the cold from the water seemed to spread and he had to grip the counter as he shook with chills. His stomach also decided that maybe it wasn’t quite up to food after all, and he began to feel vaguely nauseous. 

So he stumbled back to his room and slid under the blankets, curling into the smallest ball he could make himself. 

He thought he dozed for a bit at that point, but it was honestly hard to tell how much time had passed when he felt a wave of nausea crash over him, much stronger than before, and his eyes snapped open. 

He sat up quickly, trying to breathe through the vertigo and dull panic. He was sure he had to throw up. Soon. But he was so light-headed he wasn’t sure he’d make it to the bathroom without falling over. 

The more he tried to breathe through it, the more certain he was he was running out of time. He had to just go for it, there was no other option. 

So he stood up, took two steps, then black spots clouded over his eyes and he felt his shoulder hit the ground. 

 

“Cassian? Cassian!”

Someone was shaking him. He wished they’d stop.

“Cassian, wake up!”

He groaned. He was so tired. 

“Oh, thank God. Come on, open your eyes.”

Did he have to? His eyes blinked open and he squinted up at Jyn, kneeling over him because– shit he was on the floor. Because he’d passed out. Less than two feet from his bed. He groaned again. 

“There you are.” She sounded so relieved. “Jesus, what happened? I just looked in to make sure you were okay and you were lying on the floor.” 

“I’m not sure.” Honestly, he was fuzzy on the details himself. All he could say for sure was that he got up to…

_Oh, fuck._

Faster than he should have, Cassian sat up and tore away from Jyn, reaching for the trash can next to his nightstand, where he coughed and threw up the water and soda crackers from that morning. 

“Shit.” Jyn followed him, eyes wide and hands half-reached out like she wasn’t sure what to do with them. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, spitting into the bag. She shouldn’t have to see this, he really should be able to take care of himself. He closed his eyes and tried to think of a way to get himself back into bed, so at least she wouldn’t worry. 

Jyn frowned. “Why are you apologizing? You’re sick.”

“Want… want to be a good roommate.” 

“Jesus fuck, you’re an awesome roommate, okay? Probably the best I’ve ever had.”

The best? Really? His brain tried to catch up to what she was saying and he suddenly had so many questions, but couldn’t put any of them into sentences. 

“And I think I should take you to the hospital.”

_The what?_  “No… no…” No hospital. It wasn’t that bad. 

“Cass…” She reached out and put a hand on his forehead.

He jumped, both because it felt like ice and he hadn’t realized she was that close. 

“You’re burning up, and I don’t think you’re sweating anymore. Plus, when was the last time you’ve eaten and it stayed down?” 

“I… I’m not sure.” 

“Right. Let’s go to the hospital.” She stood and held out a hand to help him up. 

“It’s not…You don’t have to…” He’d be fine. She didn’t need to do this. 

“It is, and I do. Come on.”   


 

* * *

 

Jyn practically dragged him down to her car and pushed him into the passenger seat. He swallowed when the car started moving and closed his eyes.

“Keep them open,” she said. “Stare at the sky, it’ll make you less nauseous.”

To his surprise, she was right, and he kept his eyes fixed on the flat grey of the clouds as she drove. The cold window glass felt amazing on his forehead and he remembered something.

“How was your test?” he said.

“My what?” Jyn pulled into the hospital parking lot and came around to help him out. “How can you possibly be thinking about that right now?” 

“You were nervous about it, right?”

She made a vague noise of frustration. “I mean, yeah, but I feel like there are more pressing things to worry about at this particular moment.” 

Probably, but Cassian didn’t really want to think about any of those. He really just wanted to go back to bed, or be anywhere that wasn’t the fucking hospital. 

He was actually starting to freak out a little– especially when they entered the emergency room. The smell of disinfectant was so strong it made him gag, and nearly every chair in the waiting room was full. Almost everyone looked about as bad as he felt. 

When they were told it would be a while before he could see someone, he groaned and tried to head for the door. 

“Let’s just go home.” He had officially spent too much time upright today, and he was fine, Jyn was overreacting. 

“No.” She caught his arm and tugged him into an open seat. “We’re staying until someone checks you out.” 

“ _Why?_ ” Christ, it was so hot in here. And loud. Why did everyone have to be coughing so much?

Jyn sat next to him with a huff. “Because you’re sick.”

“Everyone’s sick.” 

A muscle in her jaw clenched. “I found you passed out on the floor of your room. Sue me if I just want to make sure you’re not going to, y’know, die.”

He started to feel kind of bad for worrying her, and then something occurred to him. 

_Holy fuck people really die from the flu._ He began to feel dizzy and put his head in his hands. “Oh, God.”

“Crap, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean– you’re not going to die, Cassian, promise.” 

Sure, but what if she was wrong? He swallowed and tried to take deep breaths. 

“What’s wrong? Cassian?” Her hand started fluttering around him, not quite sure where to go. 

He tried, but he couldn’t un-think it and he could feel himself starting to panic. The deep breaths weren’t helping and his heart was pounding. At some point he started coughing and his stomach was rolling and all he could think was that he didn’t want to die, and he didn’t want to throw up again in front of Jyn. 

Then he felt her hand land on his back, surprisingly strong and rubbing circles into his shoulder. “It’s okay, Cass, it’s okay. I’m sorry I scared you– I didn’t mean to. I’ve got you. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.” 

Cassian pressed his palms to his eyes and tried to focus on the feel of her hand through his coat. He imagined it was grounding him, reminding him which way was up, and that he wasn’t alone. 

 

Eventually, he saw a doctor. Or, a harried physician’s assistant who took his temperature and blood pressure and listened to his lungs and generally poked and prodded at him for what he felt was way longer than necessary. 

“Well, you definitely have the flu,” she said when she finished, making a note on her clipboard. 

Shocking. He leaned back on the table and winced at the bright overhead lights. 

She went on. “Pretty standard case, I think. But you’re dehydrated and how long did you say you’ve had a fever?”

“Three days, I think.” 

She nodded. “We’ll just get you some fluids and medicine for that and then you’ll be on your way. Your girlfriend’s definitely been exposed so she’s getting a vaccine– no guarantee it’ll keep her from catching it but it might make the symptoms less severe.” 

Cassian cleared his throat. “She’s not my girlfriend.” 

The PA raised her eyebrows. “Oh, sorry.” She capped her pen and stood up. “A nurse should be in soon with an IV. Come back if you’re not better in a few days or if the cough gets worse.” 

“Got it.” He closed his eyes and tried to get comfortable. And tried not to fixate on the words _Jyn_ and _girlfriend_ in the same context. 

 

The ride home was quiet, although Cassian was feeling much better. The fluids and extra-strength antipyretics had taken the edge off the dizziness and nausea and now he just felt tired. 

He collapsed into bed as soon as he was close enough, then huffed a laugh as Jyn started tugging off his shoes. 

He curled up under the blankets as soon as they were off. “I think I could sleep forever.” 

Jyn nodded. “That’s good. You need the rest.” She lingered awkwardly next to his bed, hands clasped in front of her and shoulders tense. 

“I’m sorry if I got you sick,” he said. He hated imagining it, promised himself he’d take care of her however she needed if it happened. 

“It’s fine.” She seemed to relax and stepped closer. “Really. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

On impulse, Cassian reached out and squeezed her arm. “Thank you. For… being there for me. And caring.” And a lot more than that, although he couldn’t possibly list it all. 

“Of course.” She half-smiled and caught his hand as it dropped. “I’ll be around if you need anything, just yell or text.” 

She held his hand for two seconds, then stepped back to turn off the light, but he still tried to memorize the feel of their palms pressed together. 

Silly, of course. (Even if it meant he fell asleep smiling.) 

**Author's Note:**

> [Original Tumblr Post](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/post/179574750840/i-got-you-its-gonna-be-okay-youre-going-to)
> 
>  
> 
> It's the wild wild west out there these days, but I'm still on tumblr as [cats-and-metersticks](https://cats-and-metersticks.tumblr.com/) and have no plans to leave (as you can see I recently redid my theme!). But if anything unexpected happens, you know who I am here and I'll be updating you guys in fic end notes <33 
> 
> Thank you everyone for sticking with me!!


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